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I like the idea of a conformal coating, but ASRock needs to have done its homework thoroughly. Such a coating can actually cause components to fail because the rise and fall of temperatures flexes the component parts and solder joints as the coating literally pulls the components down when the system gets colder. This can happen at relatively normal temperature ranges, bringing board components down to temps they might see with a little spilled LN2 makes it even more critical. That being said, it is probably less of an issue now than it was 30 years ago when I was involved in the testing of conformal coatings on circuit boards. :)

I wouldn't let it stop me from buying the board, as I say I like the idea, but it would be in the back of my mind if I did. It IS a great idea to protect the mainboard from the effects of condensation or a leak in a water cooling system. A +1 in my book for ASRock.Reply

There are lots of treatments that can be described as "superhydrophobic" other than Neverwet, which is just a brand name. It could be one of several different nano-structures, silicones, or fluorochemicals. Extremely hydrophobic materials are not newReply

Love my job, since I've been bringing in $82h… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online. (Home more information)http://goo.gl/5EGDEdReply

I have to agree, I've only bought two motherboards over $200, one was an ASUS Crosshair 1 that never worked right and the Asrock Z77 OC formula which is in RMA right now. Both of which tech support is almost non-existent.I will certainly think twice before ordering another mobo over $200. I am an enthusiast and modder, but it just doesn't make sense to spend that much money when I've had $100 motherboards that are still in service after 5 years.Reply

+1So called enthusiast boards are mostly a waste of money. There are few commonly run apps that significantly benefit from CPU or memory overclocking. For that sort of money you'd be better off with a second graphics card or an SSD. Reply

"As a competitive overclocker myself, I find this hobby of mine absolutely fascinating. I have had some mild success personally, hitting near the top of the enthusiast league for several years, achieving success in local competitions and I currently hold a number of UK records. I joined HWBot before I really got into enthusiast hardware, and through HWBot I joined the local UK team and luckily I had a chance encounter at a Gigabyte overclocking event with an AnandTech editor which started my writing career." - Ian Cutress

Out of my three 4770K CPUs I have had in, one fails to do 4.2 GHz at 1.4 volts, and the other two will do 4.6 GHz fairly easily and stable, but require a big voltage push for 4.7 GHz. Out of these two chips however, one was 6C cooler at 4.6 GHz OCCT load. Guess what - I'd kill that 4.2 GHz CPU before it hit 4.6 GHz. It's part of what is called 'the silicon lottery'.

Please post your experiences of auto overclocking vs. manual on your CPUs, so we can provide a reference. What seems to have skipped over heads is that manufacturers are people too, and thus can design automatic overclock settings that are aggressive. ASRock are clearly being aggressive enough with automatic settings for my chips (luckily), and the wide variation in Haswell samples (4.2 GHz to 5.0 GHz air stable) makes it hard to compare different motherboards in terms of 24/7 overclocking - as these OC boards are built for sub-zero, anything air and water is essentially a stroll in the park.

If you have any suggestions rather than blanket statements, I would be amenable to listen to them.

I thought that I would add that even my cheap Z87 Extreme4 has an on-board USB port, so it's not really something fancy that was added to this board. =P

Also, I'm rather disappointed that if they were going to make this available for water cooling that they went with built-in barbs. That's just lazy. ASUS seems to have it right with the Maximus VI Formula as it uses G1/4 threads. Unfortunately, it's not out yet, but it's supposed to release in a week or two (early August).Reply

ASRock seem to have latched onto it as a useful feature. It is certainly a plus, I wonder what the uptake % is. My father just informed me that his version of Cubase still uses a USB verification dongle.Reply

I haven't read a review anywhere with the HDMI-In actually working with discrete GPU's. For me it just makes my screen flash black.

The Molex GPU power connector is positioned poorly. It's pointed flat against where most power supplys go. Granted, when used as an open air overclocking board this won't be a problem, but Asrock use this connector on many of their high end Z87 boards.Reply

I hate it. My Linux server runs an ASRock board (A75M-HVS) booting via UEFI, but they released a newer firmware that breaks Linux UEFI booting. I emailed their tech support, and instead of getting an email back stating that Linux is unsupported, they just ignored me and I never heard from them. I had to roll back to the older firmware.Reply

Curious about the HDMI in and how useful it really is. Did you really not have a single other device in your house with HDMI output? Does it work with dual monitors? Can it only change one of the screens and not screw up your desktop?Is anyone else offering HDMI also? for less than $200+?Reply